Monthly Archives: November 2015

Widgets and pull-down notifications have been a part of Android for a very long time, but what if you combined them? Snap – Widget Drawer is essentially a second notification shade, but instead of notifications, it’s populated with widgets. Plus, it’s accessible from anywhere, no matter what else you’re doing on the phone.

While Snap appears to be a system notification shade, it’s actually an app that’s overlayed on top of everything else.

Ever since the Nexus 5, Sprint seems to be ever more accepting of unlocked devices designed to work on its network. As of right now, there are nine unlocked, SIM-free phones that Sprint allows, and that number will likely grow with each passing year. While this is a great thing, there are definitely some obstacles with getting a SIM card which, in turn, can make activating one of these devices a less-than-pleasurable experience.

Since Google still only reveals a tiny portion of the file system to Android end users, most intermediate and “power” users have a go-to file manager that they use on a regular basis. ES File Explorer was, at least until recently, one of the most popular options on the Play Store – it offers a simple interface, a robust set of tools, and it’s been available for years. But recent changes have made long-time fans of the app wary; now ES File Explorer includes a built-in web browser, “junk cleaner” notifications, and “recommended apps” (read: advertisements), among other bells and whistles that no one really asked for in a file manager.

The Fossil Q Founder is available now on Fossil’s site, but it looks like the Google Store will be getting on the action shortly, as well. The Q Founder retails for $ 295 at Fossil and is the first not-insanely-priced smartwatch you can buy with one of Intel’s brand-new Atom ultra-low-power processors. Most Wear devices to date have used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 series chip. The Q Founder also has a full gigabyte of RAM, double what you get in the Moto 360 (2015), Huawei Watch, or LG’s Watch Urbane, and a respectably large 400mAh battery.

Every Black Friday weekend there seems to be one deal that draws my attention by shining brighter than all the other flickering lights of lesser bargains floating around the dark confines of the internet. This year, this is the deal that burns brightest in my eyes.

A deal involving one of the hottest Android phones of the year, a killer price, a bonus gift card, no sales tax for most buyers, and free shipping makes for the magic pentacta (It’s like a trifecta but with five things.

HTC is at something of a crossroads right now. After the disappointing performance of the One M9 earlier this year and steadily declining revenue, the company is launching the HTC Preview program. It’s a way for users to test unreleased devices and software in order to help HTC improve them before they see the light of day. The HTC Preview team also did an AMA on Reddit to talk about the program, though they shied away from some of the tougher questions.

WhatsApp has been getting frequent beta updates that brought a lot of goodies to the app, and it’s finally time for the Play Store version of the app to receive these. Version 2.12.367 has just gone live on the official Play Store channel and it brings with it the different new features that we’ve recently discussed: rich link previews, starred messages, and direct share on Marshmallow.

When you try to share any URL to WhatsApp, like YouTube links, tweets, webpages, and more, WhatsApp will parse the address quickly and give you a nice thumbnail image and title to send along with your link.

The Galaxy View is a device only Samsung would make. Not because it’s a bad idea necessarily, but because it’s a really niche product that no other OEMs really have a hope of pulling off. It turns out that maybe even Samsung is going to have trouble selling a huge 18.4-inch tablet with a built-in handle. After 2 weeks on virtual shelves, The Galaxy View is getting a $ 100 price drop.

If your modern phone or tablet doesn’t have a MicroSD card slot like many Android flagships and mid-tier devices released in the last couple of years, you have a few limited options to transfer data between it and other devices or computers. There’s Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and finally there’s USB OTG. That should be the fastest and if you have a flash drive with both a USB and a MicroUSB connector, you’re set.

Good grief, T-Mobile has been awfully late in providing the Android 6.0 update to Nexus 6 users on its network. That kind of behavior is positively… carrier-like. But as of Friday the rollout for Marshmallow should have finally begun, at least if you’re anywhere near a Wi-Fi network – according to T-Mobile’s support document, a full OTA including the cellular network will begin later. As always, it might be several days until you see the update alert on your specific device.